Willow FSA issues about safety, future

I wanted to comment about a few things that have come out recently. I certainly think addressing the issues is worth the time.

A recent Frontiersman article, “DeVilbiss, Halter Wage War of Words,” by Brian O‘Connor, had fun with the two of us at war, but that is hardly the case really. We can disagree and debate and things are still fine, as far as I am concerned.

O’Connor, in his article, made a big mistake on the Willow Road Service Area mill rate. He said “Other portions of the tax bill, like the 1.34 mill rate for road service and the borough area-wide service rate, would remain the same.”

The correct mill rate for the Greater Willow RSA is not 1.34, it is 3.5, or $350 per $100,000 appraised value. That is a big difference, and a major reporting error.

One of my real concerns with the article is that it causes a misconception of the way FSAs are managed. O’Connor quoted Mayor DeVilbiss as saying: “For the West Lakes model to work with the relative poverty of the Willow tax base, the mill rate would have to be set at 7.12, meaning the hypothetical property tax owner would pay $1,424 for fire services on an annual property tax bill.”

This is not a fair analogy, and it is very misleading, to say the least.

When you compare West Lakes FSA to the much larger Central Mat-Su FSA, the same erroneous conclusion can be made. If you look at the facts, however, both FSAs operate totally independent of each other achieving their individual goals.

West Lakes operates with an assessed value of $1.3 billion, with a mill rate of 1.78, producing about $2 million in tax revenues. Their fund balance for June 30, 2016, is anticipated to be $1,260,154. Their ISO rating is a 4 property protection class. West Lakes has five stations.

Central Mat-Su produces $8 million in tax revenue with a 1.99 mill rate on $4.5 billion in assessed value. Their fund balance for June 30, 2016, is anticipated to be $4.7 million. Their ISO rating is a 4 property protection class. Central has seven stations and is in the core area.

Based on the Mayor’s analysis, if West Lakes wanted to match Central’s revenue, which they do not, they would have to multiply their mill rate by four to produce $8 million in tax revenue and by setting their mill rate at 7.52. The Mayor indicated that the Willow FSA would have to set their mill rate at 7.12 to match West Lakes revenue.

It does not work that way. Each service area operates independently. The Willow FSA is not trying to match West Lakes revenue. We have our own immediate goals and ample ability to pay to achieve those goals.

For the 2016 proposed budget, Willow FSA is producing $764,800 in revenue with a 2.75 mill rate on assessed value of $319 million, with an anticipated fund balance of $446,000. Willow has five stations either on line or coming on line: Main, Hatcher Pass, Crystal Lakes is out to bid, and Nancy Lake is soon to be ready for bid.

In addition, Willow has a state construction grant for Four Mile but no location yet. Operations will be maintained with a 2.75 mill rate. Many people in Willow are over five miles from a fire station, so their ISO property protection class is a 10. This will soon change for the better.

We have other rural FSAs that are interesting in that they have considerably higher mill rates than Willow. Comparing the proposed Willow FSA mill rate to the Butte FSA is a good comparison.

The Butte FSA will produce $810,000 in tax revenue with a 3.45 mill rate on $280 million in assessed value. Almost identical tax revenue to Willow FSA, except the Butte FSAs mill rate is .7 mill higher. The Butte FSA enjoys a higher fund balance, which is anticipated to be $900,148 on June 30, 2016.

Another mill rate analogy is Caswell FSA. Caswell FSA produces $287,700 in tax revenue with a mill rate of 3.21 on assessed value of $99.5 million. Their fund balance is anticipated to be $358,716 on June 30, 2016. They have two new stations, their warm storage and their $2 million main station has just opened.

Another mill rate analogy is Sutton FSA. Sutton produces $220,600 in tax revenue with a mill rate of 4.82 on assessed value of $57 million. Their fund balance is anticipated to be $248,458 on June 30, 2016.

That’s three consecutive FSA mill rates in three rural communities that are higher than Willow’s. More importantly, Willow has a lower mill rate – 2.75 – which will sustain the operation and stop running the service area on a shoestring budget.

For me, this budget cycle for the Willow FSA is not about the last 30 years, it is about the next 30 years. This is what the community and the Willow FSA needs to budget for to achieve our goals, save lives and build for the future.

Note: this letter reflects my opinion only, as the Borough Assembly has not taken an official position on the matter.

Vern Halter is a second-term assemblyman who represents the Willow area.